platform regulation

Elon Musk gives Europe’s speech platform rules the thumbs up

While the world continues to wonder what ‘free speech absolutist‘ and gadfly billionaire Elon Musk might mean for the future of Twitter, the European Union has chalked up an early PR win i

Apple’s App Store to face scrutiny in Germany as FCO opens ‘market power’ proceeding

Germany’s competition authority, the FCO, has completed its Big Tech GAFA “bingo” card by opening a proceeding against Apple. As with similar investigations already opened this year

TikTok called out for lack of ads transparency and for failing to police political payola

TikTok announced a ban on political advertising all the way back in 2019. So you’d be forgiven for thinking the ugly problem of democracy-denting political disinformation doesn’t apply ins

The UK’s plan to tackle Big Tech won’t be one-size fits all

The director of a new unit set up this month inside the UK’s competition watchdog — with a dedicated focus on tech giants’ impacts on digital markets — has been giving a hint o

TikTok to open a ‘Transparency’ Center in Europe to take content and security questions

TikTok will open a center in Europe where outside experts will be shown information on how it approaches content moderation and recommendation, as well as platform security and user privacy, it announ

Facebook’s decision-review body to take ‘weeks’ longer over Trump ban call

Facebook’s self-styled and handpicked “Oversight Board” will make a decision on whether or not to overturn an indefinite suspension of the account of former president Donald Trump wi

Court overturns Amsterdam’s three-district ban on Airbnb rentals

A ban by Amsterdam authorities on housing owners offering their properties for vacation rentals in three central districts of the popular tourist city has been overturned after a court ruled it has no

Apple’s App Store is now also under antitrust scrutiny in the UK

Apple is facing another antitrust investigation in Europe into how it operates the iOS App Store. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it’s opened an inv

TikTok calls in outside help with content moderation in Europe

TikTok is bringing in external experts in Europe in fields such as child safety, young people’s mental health and extremism to form a Safety Advisory Council to help it with content moderation i

After Facebook’s news flex, Australia passes bargaining code for platforms and publishers

A week after Facebook grabbed eyeballs globally by blocking news publishers and turning off news-sharing on its platform in Australia, the country’s parliament has approved legislation that make

Uber loses gig workers rights challenge in UK Supreme Court

Uber has lost a long-running employment tribunal challenge in the U.K.’s Supreme Court — with the court dismissing the ride-hailing giant’s appeal and reaffirming earlier rulings tha

Facebook applies overly broad content block in flex against Australia’s planned news reuse law

Outrage fast-followed Facebook’s announcement yesterday that it was making good on its threat to block Australian users’ ability to share news on its platform. The tech giant’s inte

Uber could give gig workers a better deal but it’s lobbying EU to lower standards, says Fairwork

Uber has been accused of downplaying its influence over working conditions in the gig economy after the ride-hailing giant published a white paper earlier this week in which it lobbied for a ‘Pr

Uber lobbies for ‘Prop 22’-style gig work standards in the EU

Uber is shooting its shot at EU lawmakers as they dial up scrutiny of working conditions on gig platforms to decide whether new rules are needed to improve the lot of gig workers. The ride-hailing and

EU’s top privacy regulator urges ban on surveillance-based ad targeting

The European Union’s lead data protection supervisor has recommended that a ban on targeted advertising based on tracking internet users’ digital activity be included in a major reform of

EU’s lead data supervisor for most of big tech is still using Lotus Notes

The lead data supervisor for a slew of tech giants in the European Union, including Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter, is still relying on Lotus Notes to manage complaints and inve

TikTok has until Friday to respond to Italy’s order to block users it can’t age-verify after girl’s death

TikTok has until Friday to respond to an order by Italy’s data protection agency to block users whose age it cannot verify, TechCrunch has learned. The GPDP made an “immediate” order

EU chief warns over ‘unfiltered’ hate speech and calls for Biden to back rules for big tech

In a speech to the European Parliament today marking the inauguration of U.S. president Joe Biden, the president of the European Commission has called for Europe and the U.S. to join forces on regulat

WhatsApp-Facebook data-sharing transparency under review by EU DPAs after Ireland sends draft decision

A long-running investigation in the European Union focused on the transparency of data-sharing between Facebook and WhatsApp has taken the first major step toward a resolution. Ireland’s Data Pr

Europe seizes on social media’s purging of Trump to bang the drum for regulation

Big tech’s decision to pull the plug on president Donald Trump’s presence on their platforms, following his supporters’ attack on the US capital last week, has been seized on in Euro
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